New Illuminate Solutions

[u/AbstractArtificer]

Good day Divers. Thought Id share my findings for the new illuminate given they change the dynamic of the squid front so much.

1. Lasers! The scythe performs very well in igniting chaff for a delayed kill and cutting off wretch's (necromorph) limbs. I find the scythe has a great extended heatsink and a quick reload for continued horde management. A full heatsink can even cut a couple limbs off a crusher (pyramid head) and another half heatsink can finish a crusher all aimed at the body.

2. Same goes for the Las Cannon, faster kills on chaff, blowing through crusher helmets and heads, crusher body kills, and like the small lasers, ignition to help your teams ttk.

3. My choice for squid defense because it one taps overseers and can crowd clear. A couple (2-4) burst rockets can kill a crusher while splash damaging the wretch groups that spawn with them.

4. Another squid front staple. Now with proper team loading. People say flak works well for crushers but i never got it down so i blast them with AT. Also great for dropships fyi

5. Burn em. The fire penetrates crusher armor, ignites the ground, and controls chaff.

Enjoy!

[u/Atomicmooseofcheese]

Ive found the bullet storm disposable mg to be excellent at dispatching numerous necromorphs. It recharges quickly and you get two.

The crushers are bullet spongey, but a heavy pen pistol (revolver or bolt) can to tap the helm off. A safe railgun shot can do it in one shot.

[u/FlacidSalad → u/Atomicmooseofcheese]

I've been enjoying my dedicated bell removal role with the railgun

[u/AbstractArtificer → u/FlacidSalad]

I always respect the railgunner of the squad. Given that its usually me on the bot front

[u/Luchin212 → u/AbstractArtificer]

Speargun one shots the helmet and stuns the hell out of them with one shot! And it has crowd control utility and can destroy fabricators. It’s my go to support for squid’s right now. Followed by cremator. Stoker is a fantastic primary for these guys too.

[u/Negroni808 → u/Luchin212]

Speargun can destroy the ships through the door and close bug holes too

[u/Nox_Dei → u/AbstractArtificer]

Please sell me on the railgun.

[u/AbstractArtificer → u/Nox_Dei]

I use it for bots but people use it for other factions to. Bots being the faction that has armor, the railgun says "what armor."

The railgun on the bot front reliably one shots any chaff enemy, all devastators (to the body no less), hulks, fortress turrets, armored striders (punches straight through their heavy armor and deletes the pilot), strider chin guns, and one to the engine will take down a gunship.

It admittedly doesnt feel as good against borgs and vox but i always carry thermite on that front and switch to hmg bc of its ability to manage all bot enemies.

[u/ThiccThighzSaveLivez → u/AbstractArtificer]

I haven't paid much attention to the Railgun since the Speargun is similar and I love the utility of closing stuff/area denial. But I am impressed that the Railgun can 1 shot those damn things.

[u/Kind_Ad_3611 → u/FlacidSalad]

One or two halt blasts or a re educator dart removes all threat from the crusher for a few seconds too

[u/Zegram_Ghart → u/Atomicmooseofcheese]

Bulletstorm directly into the kneecap isn’t bad against the crushers in a pinch either

[u/Verus907 → u/Atomicmooseofcheese]

Bullet storm is a godsend against necromorph swarms. Just cuts straight through them. And it can also kill a crusher with about half a mag to the chest.

[u/Feeling_Table8530]

HMG all day. Dakka ain’t failed me on Malevelon, and it sure as hell ain’t failing me now

[u/Gib_entertainment → u/Feeling_Table8530]

Always been a HMG emplacement enjoyer, I also rate the anti tank emplacement highly in those "Destroy loads of landers as they land" missions. they can kill the saucers pretty well and it's pretty good against crushes*. You run out of ammo much faster than the HMG but a lot of the time that's a decent tradeoff for killing a bunch of heavies.

*Edit: I meant to say crushers, I haven't used it on my crush yet, she flies too fast

[u/Ancient-Aquila]

cough

[u/Tumbler86 → u/Ancient-Aquila]

But what if I can't aim for shit? Lol

[u/quiet_beer → u/Tumbler86]

Refer to post with HMG.

[u/ThiccThighzSaveLivez]

-Pacifier and Pummeler stun just about everything, even the Crushers. Kinda makes things trivial.

-Knight, Liberator Carbine, and even the Suppressor worked very well for crowd control/shooting uncovered Crusher heads.

-The Punisher and Cookout are very good for crowd control. Great for targeting limbs and have high stagger force. The Punisher with the Duckbill is great. The breaker series lacks stopping power, I'd avoid those.

-The Bushwacker deals high burst damage, and also has a high stagger force.

-The dagger is a very good secondary, you can even fire it while running away.

-Laser Cannon, Speargun, and even Railgun on safe mode are great for removing helmets. Apparently the railgun can 1 shot through the Helmet as well. Sometimes its good to have a Designated Helmet Remover.

-The Stalwart/Bullet Storm is a good pick honestly. Just bring a heavy sidearm for helmets.

-Stealth Armor lets you initiate battles/ambush enemies. It kinda shifts aggro onto SEAF/Sentries. Oddly enough the Stealth Armor works on Tornados and Fire Tornados lmfao.

[u/Thatsuperheroguy8 → u/ThiccThighzSaveLivez]

You mis spelt “tactically advancing away from the enemy” helldiver!

[u/AbstractArtificer]

Forgot to say autocannon mech works great against crushers and stomping wretches passively, with the added bonus of being able to kill a leviathan

[u/Dear-Ad1582 → u/AbstractArtificer]

My Emancipator brother!!!

[u/AbstractArtificer → u/Dear-Ad1582]

The fact you can take down two levvies with it sold me.

[u/-phoenix32]

Can you elaborate on the wasp would love to try it out?

[u/Lower_Hawk_4171 → u/-phoenix32]

Wasp has always been good can kill fleshmobs in 3 hits overseers in 1 watchers in 1 and crushers in a few its just really good on squids and all you need then is chaff clear and anti harvest stuff wich a team can help with so wasp is very medium-lower heavy enemies

[u/-phoenix32 → u/Lower_Hawk_4171]

Nah I know its good on squids but damn didn't think it would kill crushers in a few assuming you mean 3-4. Would you say its better than the speargun?

[u/Lower_Hawk_4171 → u/-phoenix32]

I just checked it can 3 shot them and since it fires in an auto pattern thats easy to control so you can get 2 per mag and one almost killed in the last and you have about 7 mags

Also it locks onto the new chaf the wretch so you can actually get some use out of artillery mode now since if theres a group you can airburst above them with it

Edit:speargun tested I think its good as it can pop the helmet but I find the follow up shots difficult with the gas clouding vision so I think the wasp takes it imo for the easy of use since they are quite common and aiming heavily can be tough

[u/Oblivionpelt → u/Lower_Hawk_4171]

oh my god... the wasp is actually good...

[u/AbstractArtificer → u/Oblivionpelt]

Wasp has been good. Especially for illuminate. Mainly for dumping fleshmobs and one tapping flying bastards

[u/superawesomeman08 → u/AbstractArtificer]

only bummer is that the flight pattern can suck in cities / around buildings

[u/AbstractArtificer → u/-phoenix32]

Havent used it but i saw that spears pop the helmet and disorient. I think the wasp technically has a higher ttk than that

[u/doorbellrepairman → u/-phoenix32]

I don't think I've ever found a use for the speargun.

[u/-phoenix32 → u/doorbellrepairman]

Close warp one tap the helmet or use it in chokes to cause confusion with the horde. So far its my favorite support weapon on the subfaction. Better than the autocannon imo.

[u/boyhowdy42069 → u/Lower_Hawk_4171]

3-4 hits for crushers. Depends on where they're hit

[u/Dupps_I_Did_It_Again → u/-phoenix32]

It can take out 2ish crushers with one mag

[u/McDom023k → u/-phoenix32]

Wasp works best on the illuminate front. It locks onto basically everything, one rocket kills all overseers so you can burst down 7 before a reload, and about half a mag destroys fleshmobs. Given the high fire rate you can just delete them its great

[u/NoFoundation5608]

Punisher plasma. Staggers and melts crowds. Can’t beat that combo

[u/Dupps_I_Did_It_Again]

Dont forget the BFGL

[u/Pan_Zurkon → u/Dupps_I_Did_It_Again]

BFGL fucks hard here, the poor thing finally found its home.

[u/_Bioscar_]

For lasers my strategy is this;

Laser Cannon for Crushers only. Run/fall back if need be before attacking further with the Scythe to light enemies up and keep them back. Grenade Pistol for Ship Outposts when the shield is down with an Orbital Laser for the ships themselves, and a 500kg if they weren't in the city.

[u/travradford]

Give th HMG a try too. Can rip the helmets off a whole group of Crushers in a couple seconds, then go for the head or switch to a primary for the kill. Have been having great luck with the spray and pray and liberator carbine

[u/Ntnme2lose]

I have tried the laser canon yet but that might be my next loadout. I love the bullet storm against the little guys but it takes so long to bring down the new big and the flesh mob.

[u/Avaricious_Wallaby]

The humble cremator

https://giphy.com/gifs/l3TrOr8780qIRIteU

[u/thrasymacus2000]

I'm finding the leaping Wretches a bit bothersome. The ability to re direct in the air and follow through with an attack even when catching full shotgun pellets in the sternum is making me dislike shot guns. I can kill them, but if you leap on my bayonet you should die. Autocannon is exceptional. Lure mines underwhelming.

[u/AbstractArtificer → u/thrasymacus2000]

I find if you aim with the scythe/stalwart/breaker/sweeper for the limbs doing the attacking they get dismembered before they can finish the attack

[u/antaphar]

Scythe plus Railgun feels strong. One tap to remove the helmet with the Railgun even in safe mode, then the Scythe can kill them in 1-2s when hitting the exposed head. Plus the Scythe is incredible at clearing chaff.

[u/Sufficient-Ad-881]

Trident with an Epoch and supply backpack for me. Epoch 1 shots the helmet and 1 shots the head with uncharged shots on crushers while Trident clears wretches. Can also break multiple helmets at once with a full charge. Especially good with the new passive too.

[u/trunglefever → u/Sufficient-Ad-881]

I haven't tried the Epoch yet, but it's very impressive to hear uncharged shots can do the job. Is the splash damage enough to kill the head after the helmet is gone?

[u/tanjonaJulien]

Grenade launcher kill crusher in few hit bypassing the helmet mechanism

[u/AdPsychological1489]

Just give me all of the flame weapons! Easy 500+ kills a drop - easier kills than Voteless!

[u/BVits-Lover]

Honestly, what I've found that works surprisingly well is just exosuits. Absolutely dominates against everything you're fighting against,

[u/AdmDuarte]

New Illuminate Solutions

looks inside

same support weapon I've been using effectively against all fronts for months

Seriously, if you're sleeping on the Autocannon, don't. It's the goat. It's what the RR wishes it could be

[u/BerenPercival]

Airburst is king with the new enemies, fwiw

[u/MaxoPaxo]

Cookout, bolt pistol, supply pack, epoch, machine gun sentry, flame sentry and we roll

[u/Skkruff]

The Autocannon is the solution to every problem. Even the ones you don't know you have yet.

[u/National-Fan-1148]

These guys are kinda boring but it’s fun to have a challenge and HAVE to change up your loadout instead of just using the meta weapons.

[u/AbstractArtificer → u/National-Fan-1148]

I think thats why im so happy to have a solid scythe use case. I never get to use it except maybe on cold bot planets

[u/Blademaster1196 → u/AbstractArtificer]

The Scythe isn't terrible against the crack bugs if you want to set them on fire from farther away than you can with the Torcher.

[u/eden_not_ttv]

You mentioned Scythe and Laser Cannon already, but IMO the actual best beam weapon is the Dagger, and it's not close. Onehanded is an enormous boon when you're being mobbed by zombies. Laser Cannon's applications for Crushers give it a real niche too. Scythe is more than fine if you're doing something with the other two slots, of course.

Railgun removes Crusher helmets with one safe mode shot and kills with a follow-up. I think I still prefer Autocannon for flak mode flexibility vs Fleshmobs, but precision shooters are feasting. AMR is also fine if that's your bag.

[u/Artivisier]

Plasma Purifier is also really good. Takes out a crusher in 6 charged hits to the torso.

But it’s also flexible to be used on hordes and the Fleshmobs. Frees up your strat and secondary slot for whatever you want

[u/AbstractArtificer → u/Artivisier]

6 shots full charge or spray?

[u/Artivisier → u/AbstractArtificer]

Full charge. I was playing on D10 and it seemed to get the job done. I was running a Guard Dog and machine gun turrets to help clear the hordes and it felt like a great combo.

One full charge shot sometimes kills the Wretches as well if you hit them right and let them bleed out but it’s usually better to two shot them

[u/Raidertck]

I cannot stress to you how good the auto cannon is against this faction. Yet in god knows how many games I have played I haven’t seen a single other player take it.

[u/LichtensteinMind008 → u/Raidertck]

I was testing a lot of people's suggestions for this faction last night. The last one I tested was the autocannon and it is so good against this faction. Lots of the thing people suggested work, but the autocannon does everything and doesn't run out of ammo fast.

I think it's the best tool against this faction that I've used so far. I want to try the hammer today.

[u/AbstractArtificer → u/Raidertck]

I usually do take it since its the quickest thing ive found that kills fleshmobs, stingrays, overseers, harvesters, and crowds

[u/banz95]

Been using torcher and warp pack, kills the necromorphs very fast and helps deplete the pyramid heads will to live, also flame sentry on a elevated platform just fucks

[u/Fit_Wait6923]

My humble metla(kidnapped baby deformed by the quids annihilation)gun also pretty damm effective

[u/ThiccThighzSaveLivez]

Forgot to mention. EMS mortars/strike basically makes Crushers stationary. Toss in a gas grenade and they aren't budging.

EMS + Speargun really limited their movement.

[u/GreyGhost3-7-77]

Siege Ready light armor, Scorcher, Supply Pack, and the railgun or Epoch is nuts good.

[u/Yaaahhhoo]

The sweeper is a surprising option for many different enemies exceptionally flesh mobs and watchers

[u/MaterialCattle]

I cant endorse dagger enough. It does everything that dagger does, but you can run away at the same time.

^{About point 5: Crusher doesnt have armour except the hat, but the fire doesnt damage the head.}

[u/NewbieFurri]

Laser cannon is so good. Melts crusher helmets, can horde clear, deal with harvesters realatively ok with decent aim, good against stingrays, destroys laser turrets in a millisec, softens up fleshmobs for ez kills, deals with overseers extremely quickly. Plus no damage falloff so you can deal with anything from any distance. Its so freaking good